Low carb eating

Low carb!
Low fat!
High protein!
Good fat!

Does thinking about changing your diet send you into a spin of reaching for your go-to treat food?

Hopefully this will shed some light on the matter for you and will help you make better choices more easily.

The case for cutting down on carbohydrates

When we hear “carbs” we think

bread

pasta

rice

couscous

potatoes

But did you know that every fruit, vegetable and legume has carbohydrates too? And in many cases they’ll give you more nutrients, fibre and slow release energy.

Choose carbs from vegetables for added fibre

In our Western world, we live in a carbohydrate-rich environment. Walk into any food court and you’ll have trouble finding a snack or meal that doesn’t involve one of the above.

Unfortunately these often white, processed foods are high in calories and low in nutrients. They are addictive because they give us a sugar high (most are high GI unless you chose wholegrain / brown versions but even that isn’t a guarantee of “better choice”)

We can all benefit from a low carb diet but the benefits are especially significant for those who are overweight. Results can include weight loss, better metabolic health and general well being.

A high carb diet (high GI) can lead to increases in blood sugar levels and can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and their associated health consequences.

However, loosing weight has been proven to start reversing and sometimes stopping the progression of Type II Diabetes.

I love the idea of using our food intake to “medicate” or “cure” our bodies.

So what does low carb mean for you in day to day life?

Thinking about a typical day, it can easily look like this:

cereal / toast for breakfast

sandwich for lunch

protein with vegetables and rice/potato/pasta etc for dinner

Add in a muffin for morning tea and a biscuit with your afternoon cuppa and you’ve consumed a highly processed, high GI carb with every meal.

To remove those processed carbohydrates from at least two of your meals can be confronting.

In a low carb diet, it is recommended to aim for 50g -70g carbohydrates per day. Ideally you’ll get these carbohydrates from starchy vegetables, legumes, wholegrain cereals or bread.